Chapter Three

The Misconceptions of a Vampire: Part One

"You never told me your name," Alfred mused.

Arthur looked at him, realization dawning him as well. "It's Arthur. Arthur Kirkland."

Alfred smiled at Arthur, probably in hopes he'd do the same, but instead Arthur felt the heat in his cheeks and ears rise and he turned the other way.

They had remained in Arthur's garden for most of the morning between the large barberry bushes and several hedges with little lavender and yellow flowers, Arthur claiming "It's not safe to leave until we can hear my brothers' cars driving away," to which Alfred asked what cars were, and thus allow Arthur to waste his morning explaining to what felt like a caveman or overgrown child the invention of automobiles and development of transportation.

"That's amazing!" Alfred had barked excitedly.

"Be quiet! Someone will hear you!" Arthur snarled in a low whisper.

"Oops. Sorry." He ducked his head so he was at eye level with Arthur again. "That's amaziiing!" he repeated, but in the hushed voice Arthur used.

Arthur closed his eyes and smirked. "Yes, well, there's still so much more to it than that. We have these flying machines too called airplanes." He pointed towards the sky, which was currently being slightly masked by a great tree in the garden— it's wide branches and leaves not only hovering broadly over them, but providing a pleasant shade where they sat cross-legged on the grass next to each other.

Alfred hung his mouth open, the ends of it curving into a big grin. He tilted his head back and gazed at the sky as if waiting for one of these flying machines to zoom by any moment and abduct him.

The weather was exceptionally good today Arthur thought while looking up as well. The sun was shining brightly overhead and the birds were chirping pleasantly. Many of the neighborhood children were out and about as well, savoring the sweet smell of a much-awaited Saturday.

But despite seeing what looked like a wonderful day to be outside, Arthur couldn't suppress a yawn and the consideration of going back inside and falling asleep in his warm room in the basement.

Suddenly, one by one, loud roaring engines reached their ears and Arthur peeked over the hedges to see that his brothers were now on their way to leave for whatever dastardly immoral thing they do on a daily basis. The sounds were gone almost as quickly as they came however as his brothers left with successfully not hitting any children on bikes this time. Arthur now considered the house a safe place to enter once again.

"Okay, we can go back inside now." Arthur sighed relieved. He was about to leave when Alfred tugged his arm.

"But I like it out here!" Alfred assured. "Fresh air and sunshine! Plus, its all stuffy and depressing in your room."

Arthur grimaced. "It's not so much for you as it is for me. Thanks to you, I didn't get a good sleep and..." He trailed off realizing what he had just said. "You...! You're a vampire! What the hell do you think you're doing out here in broad daylight!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Alfred asked, looking honestly confused by Arthur's sudden outburst.

"The sun is out! You'll perish...! Into ashes! " He looked at Alfred with a grave expression and reached for his elbows to lead him inside.

"a creature of the night— under the sun it will meet death..."

Upon touching Alfred's skin, however, he didn't feel him wither away or burning from the heat. "...You're... not perishing." Instead, he felt an overall warmness. Akin to what he did previously to Alfred's teeth, he let his hands and eyes wander Alfred's arms. Alfred didn't seem to mind and let him carry on with his inspection, saying no objections nor biting his fingers. Once Arthur grasped what he was doing though, he promptly stopped his fondling, and was flustering, thinking of something else to do. Luckily, Alfred spoke up for him.

"Well, no. I'm not. And neither are you, so..." He was acting like Arthur had said something unintelligible or awkward, and shut his mouth from saying anything more.

Composing himself, he coughed and clearly stated "Right. Sorry... I suppose that's just a big misconception about vampires." He grimaced, internally questioning himself what else in his books were just made-up stories or hoaxes. "Anyway, you must be tired too, right? It's probably not as good as a coffin, but I'll lend you my sleeping bag." He was making his way back to the house when Alfred caught up to him and grabbed his arm again.

"You can't do that!" Alfred whined much how a spoiled child would. "You brought me here and told me about all these wonderful things, and then you want me to just lie down and go to sleep!" He began jerking Arthur back towards their spot under the tree. "Come ooon, Artie!"

"It's Arthur," he corrected, frowning. "I wasn't prepared for this! Nor are you in a right state to be out in the open!" Arthur gestured his hands up and down to indicate Alfred's incredibly out-of-date attire, which was also spotted with dirt.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Alfred said defensively. His fingers were now pinching his shirt to see if there was anything faulty with what he was wearing.

"Oh nothing. It just happens to be a few hundred years out of style." Not willing to waste any more of his time, Arthur was now halfway towards the back door of the house. "Get inside until I can figure out what we'll do from now on." He stepped into the kitchen, and held the door open for Alfred who had hunched his back and let his arms dangle lifelessly in front of him.

Nevertheless, Alfred found the toaster once more and eagerly began toggling with it as if it was a toy. His fingers were leaving large prints over the surface, but instead of scolding him, Arthur took advantage of the situation and shut the door. He motioned two of his fingers to form a pentagon. There, temporarily imprinted on his kitchen door was a large blue star. Repeating this action in the directions of every door in the house except his own, Arthur had sealed all of the exits and entrances.

None the wiser of what Arthur had just done, Alfred smiled over the now dismembered toaster. "You have got to show me how you do that stuff!"

"Another time. I need some sleep— as do you— but I'll be awake by afternoon." Before going to his room, he looked at Alfred one more time and placed another hex on the stove and oven, successfully making the house Alfred-proof. "Good night then." He waved goodbye and descended into the basement.

But as he made his final step into his room, Alfred dashed right inside, boots clunking loudly over the creaking staircase, and clung to Arthur's cloak. "You're the worst host ever! Leaving me alone up there with those creepy signs you put!"

"They're to keep you out of trouble!" Arthur wasn't going to be prevented from his bed any longer. When Alfred wouldn't let go of his cloak, he untied the little knot that secured it around his neck, and bound for his bed where he threw the covers over himself in a poor attempt to keep Alfred from bothering him any further.

Alfred just as quickly found his way onto Arthur's bed though. "I'm not going to stay up there, if those things are— what if a ghost comes out of it!" He was nudging Arthur now, who had no intention of budging. "F- Fine! I'll just go to sleep then, too! But when we wake up, you better let me out of the house and show me around! I won't accept any objections!" Alfred straightened his legs on Arthur's bed and dropped his head on one of the pillows. "If you would scoot over a bit..."

Under the covers, it seemed Arthur had choked on air. Sputtering, he sat up to look accusingly at Alfred. "Absolutely not!" His face was red, most likely a mix of embarrassment and anger. "Sleep on the floor!"

"But your bed is huge! Can't I, please—"

"You've got filth all over your clothes!"

"I'll take them off, see!" Alfred had sat up too now. His hands sprinted for the buttons of his shirt, where he was about to release them.

"K- Keep them on, you idiot!" He looked down hurriedly to avoid Alfred's unintentional lewdness. Almost shouting the spell, he summoned his sleeping bag he used when he would go on hunting trips with his family. It had whizzed from a dark corner of the room and perched itself in Arthur's arms. "You can use this."

At first Alfred had looked impressed at yet another example of Arthur's skills as a wizard. But that had fallen at Arthur's statement. "I can't!"

"What are you talking about? I've just given you permission—" He raised one of his big eyebrows out of irritation and confusion.

"It's not that." Alfred began twiddling his fingers in circles. "Your floor looks like it might have ghost mice."

A long silence filled the air with Alfred's last words. He was still making tiny circles and his eyes were darting side to side to avoid Arthur's gaze. Thoroughly infuriated, Arthur shattered the quiet icily. "Alfred, if you don't stop with this shit right now, I swear I will not hesitate to drive a stake down your esophagus straight into your heart."

Finally understanding that his insistence wasn't working and knowing that Arthur fully-well happened to put just as much bite into his barks, he puttered with the zipper a bit, then swiftly slipped himself inside. He made no complaints and settled himself right next to Arthur's bed, his back touching the side of it.

Silence wafted between them once more.

Feeling more than a little guilty now seeing Alfred's slightly trembling figure from where he was still sitting, Arthur sighed and made his way to the very edge of his bed next to Alfred and lied on his stomach. He reached for Alfred's head and patted it lightly, assuring him "There are no ghost mice. And... I promise I'll show you all the things you want to see later... But for now, I just need some rest." He closed his eyes while his hand was still on Alfred, trying his best to comfort him— something he's never done to anyone before. Much less had done to him. When Alfred stopped stirring, he reckoned he was doing everything right so far. "If you're afraid of staying upstairs and too awake from what you've already seen, you can look through these." In a tired whisper, he chanted the same summoning spell prior, but this time some of the books that were discarded on the floor and a few from the bookshelves piled themselves in a sloppy stack next to Alfred.

He was plenty exasperated already and did not wait for Alfred to respond. Arthur was immediately drifting off to sleep, already beginning to dream. But for an instant he thought he felt someone touching his hand and whisper his name.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter completed! Honestly, I just want to ditch all this friendship to romance development, and make them get together already. ;;; And I know there's nothing seemingly vital in this chapter, but right now I'm just trying to get them get used to each other until I can quicken the pace.

Also, thank you for the wonderful reviews and alerts! \o/